Changes In Life Circumstances Research Articles

Promoting healthy movement behaviours among children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Promoting healthy movement behaviours among children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Applied information ethics

What do ethics mean in the context of Information and Knowledge Management in the business sector? Professional practice in librarianship and information management rarely approaches the life-and-death situations characteristic of medical practice, or the life-changing circumstances characteristic of legal practice. It is perhaps understandable then that the professional ethics of information work has never attained the same status as medical or legal ethics. Nevertheless over recent decades there has been growing recognition that professional information work of involves significant ethical issues.

A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVES CONTRIBUTED BY OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS

We analyzed 19 interviews of African Americans who came of age during desegregation. We approached the development of the coding system and analysis of coded transcripts using an iterative inductive/deductive approach guided theoretically by the social ecological framework and life course development theory. Major coding categories included time orientation, topics of discussion, emotions, habits and behaviors, family, community, race relations, and history. Analysis of the sorted and coded quotes led to the development of a conceptual framework for understanding how participants portrayed their life trajectories. Individuals’ lives occurred in the context of societal institutions, the larger society, and culture. Life trajectories involve a series of changes in life circumstances and social relationships during which individuals engage with life goals such as making a living, staying healthy, coping with stressors, and maintaining satisfactory interpersonal relationships. Important themes associated with healthy aging included resilience, faith, forgiveness, and family.

“Fallen Between the Cracks”: Exploring Subsidized Housing From the Perspectives of Low-Income Preseniors

Older adults aged 55 to 64 are vulnerable to housing insecurity and homelessness due to complex, interacting factors including decreasing options for employment, poor health, changing life circumstances, and ineligibility for seniors’ benefits or seniors’ subsidized housing. Despite the vulnerability of low-income preseniors, few researchers have examined the housing experiences of this population. This participatory action research study was guided by an advisory committee (n = 11) comprised of individuals with lived experiences of homelessness and service providers. We conducted in-depth, qualitative individual interviews with low-income preseniors (n = 30), who experienced housing insecurity or homelessness, to better understand their unique challenges and barriers to obtaining affordable, safe and suitable housing. Low-income preseniors (n = 6), who had direct experience with housing insecurity or homelessness, collaborated with the data analysis process. The constant comparative method was used to identify themes related to: (1) risk factors for homelessness, (2) barriers in securing housing, (3) characteristics of desirable and undesirable housing, and (4) the importance of advocacy in addressing the complex challenges they encounter. Study findings also highlighted the influence of contextual and structural factors that contribute to the preseniors’ quality of life, health, and well-being as they age. Recommendations are provided to inform subsidized housing practices, policies, and services targeted at meeting the unique needs of this population.

Poverty and the varieties of entrepreneurship in the pursuit of prosperity

In this paper, we revisit the entrepreneurship and poverty relationship under a eudaimonic perspective that brings together conversion factors, and future prosperity expectations. Based on an fsQCA of changes in life circumstances of 166 farm households in rural Kenya, we explore how different combinations of conversion factors enable distinct forms of entrepreneuring in the pursuit of prosperity. Results show that strong entrepreneurship-enabled future prosperity expectations result from three combinations of enabling conversion factors shaping up three varieties of entrepreneurial endeavors: family-frugal, individual-market, and family-inwards, which show a much more diverse and counterintuitive reality. Our research contributes to literature by revealing and theorizing on a split picture portraying the many ways in which farmers, acting as everyday entrepreneurs, exploit real opportunities in seemingly identical impoverished communities. It also reveals a central disconnect between entrepreneurship, life-satisfaction and financial improvements when assessed against expectations of future prosperity. In doing so, this paper responds to calls for a better understanding of the processes whereby entrepreneurship can distinctively improve current and future life circumstances, and the many ways in which this may happen.

Hedonic Adaptation to Treatment: Evidence from a Medical Intervention

We investigate whether changes in life circumstances lead to long-lasting changes in subjective well-being using a medical intervention that provided orthotic equipment to Ugandan adults with lower limb disabilities. The intervention had a positive effect on mobility and physical health, and treated patients reported a significant improvement in life satisfaction in the first few months after the treatment. However, the effect on subjective well-being was not prolonged. After one year, life satisfaction returned to the pre-treatment levels. The evidence of adaptation is also supported by evidence of changes in patients’ reference levels, in the form of aspirations measured as both the level of income considered sufficient to live well, and the minimum income to make ends meet.

Changes in household poverty among South Korean young adults: Decomposition analysis for 1995, 2006 and 2016

This study analysed the causes behind changes in the poverty rate among young South Korean households, using the 1995, 2006 and 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Labour market instability has intensified since the Asian economic crisis of 1997. This has increased the risk of poverty among young people who lack financial assets and must obtain economic security through work. The poverty rates among people aged 18–29 have steadily increased. Using Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, this study evaluated the contribution that characteristics and structure make to poverty rate changes. The study found that the poverty rate was lower in households with a higher level of education and in households with fewer members. The study also found that the poverty rate was higher in female‐headed households and in households where fewer of its members were employed. Furthermore, the poverty rate was found to have increased among the younger population in general. These findings indicate that social policies should take into consideration the changing life circumstances of young adults.

Navigating a fragmented health care landscape: DACA recipients' shifting access to health care

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients face an uncertain fate as their future in the United States is being debated. Yet even before the program was introduced in June 2012 and became endangered in September 2017, they encountered challenges in navigating a fragmented health care landscape throughout the United States. This paper focuses on DACA recipients' experiences in accessing health care throughout their lives, both before and after receiving DACA. We conducted semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with 30 DACA recipients living in Maryland between April–December 2016. Participants represented 13 countries of origin and ranged in age between 18 and 28. Results demonstrate that DACA recipients have had punctuated coverage throughout their lives and continue to face constrained access despite temporary gains in status. Health care access is further stratified within their mixed-status families. Participants have also experienced shifts in their health care coverage due to moving between jurisdictions with variable eligibility and changing life circumstances related to family, school, and employment. This article underscores the importance of examining young adult immigrants' access to care over time as they weather changes in the broader policy context and in highly variable contexts of reception nationwide, shaped by state, but also county and city policies and programs. The challenges and gaps in coverage DACA recipients face also underscore the need for both health care and immigration reform.

School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China

The purpose of this study was to examine school adjustment of rural-to-urban migrant children and its relations with acculturation in China. Migrant children were those whose official hukou status was in a rural region outside the city. Data were collected for 1175 students (M age = 11 years) in urban public schools from multiple sources including peer evaluations, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that migrant students performed more competently than urban non-migrant students in social and academic areas. Migrant students displayed better psychological adjustment than non-migrant students in higher grades, but not in lower grades. Among migrant students, those with higher scores on accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture tended to be better adjusted. These results indicate the implications of migration and change in life circumstances for children's school functioning in social, academic, and psychological domains.

Personality and the Social Environment: Contributions to Psychological Adjustment Among Asian and Euro American Students

Introduction: Although personality and sociocultural experiences shape how people adapt to changing life circumstances, these factors’ contributions to psychological adjustment outcomes may differ across ethnic groups. Previous research has shown that personality traits predict psychological distress and wellbeing, and people's comfort with their social environments and interpersonal relationships also can be instrumental in understanding their psychological adjustment. Research on personality and on environmental characteristics have tended to focus on Euro Americans and on people of color, respectively; the extent to which campus climate and ethnic group contact predict psychological adjustment above and beyond personality remains understudied and unclear.Method: Relative influences of Big 5 personality and environmental characteristics at a predominantly White college were tested as predictors of psychological adjustment among Asian (N = 412; 48.5% women, Mage= 19.60) and Euro American (N = 277; 47.7% women, Mage= 19.46) students.Results: Measurement invariance tests showed that only a subset of the NEO Five Factor Inventory was equivalent across groups. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that personality contributed to depression and anxiety symptoms for both groups, but comfort with campus environment and ethnic social comfort were distinctively important predictors of Asians’ psychological adjustment.Discussion: Implications for research, professional services, and university practices are discussed.

INTEGRATION OF ONLINE STUDY TECHNIQUES IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO NON-PHILOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Continuous learning is a major prerequisite for maintaining an adequate professional level. An important tool to help a person exercise his/her right to education, to obtain new information, to engage in continuous learning and develop independent learning skills is an online study mode. The main task of a higher educational institution is to create conditions for the formation of a personality possessing the qualities which are necessary for a contemporary individual: the ability to act independently and actively, to take decisions, to adapt oneself to changing life circumstances, to improve and develop oneself. The article deals with possible ways of developing and improving students’ language skills by means of integrating online study techniques in the process of teaching foreign languages to non-philological university students. The task of the teacher is to organize students’ independent work which is extremely important for teaching at higher educational institutions. Analysis of recent publications was made. The author analyzes the concept of distanced teaching mode as a motivating factor in studying foreign languages, as it facilitates the formation of students’ general cultural and professional competences. The educational information design technology in foreign languages at non-philological faculty has been proposed. It has been proved the basic criterion of effective informational product – information-oriented competence of professional foreign language knowledge.

Pathways to retirement: Are they related to patterns of short- and long-term subjective well-being?

We examine the association between pathways to retirement and patterns of subjective well-being in Germany. We argue that short-term development of subjective well-being is related to social status changes while long-term development of subjective well-being is related to resources and changes in life circumstances. Importantly, we expect that how a person's social status changes and his/her access to resources post-retirement both depend on the person's specific pathway to retirement, resulting in distinct patterns of subjective well-being post-retirement. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we categorized people as retiring from employment, short- or long-term unemployment, labour market inactivity or due to disability. We then used dual-change score models to compare trajectories of life satisfaction ten years before to ten years after the retirement transition. For people retiring from employment, life satisfaction did not change in the short term but developed more positively in the long term. In comparison, people retiring from unemployment or due to disability experienced a short-term increase in life satisfaction but had more negative long-term trajectories of life satisfaction. We found no retirement-related changes in life satisfaction for people retiring from inactivity. The findings suggest that different pathways to retirement are related to distinct patterns of subjective well-being and highlight the importance of late-life employment biographies for quality of life post-retirement.

“So that's why I'm scared of these methods”: Locating contraceptive side effects in embodied life circumstances in Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Contraceptive side effects (SE) are often portrayed as either unproblematic trade-offs for pregnancy prevention or misconceptions and fears that negatively affect individuals' contraceptive decisions. Little attention is given, however, to wider, socially-rooted meanings and rationales for these feared and experienced SE. Through inductive analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with women and men from rural Burundi and South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2013 and 2016, we locate contraceptive SE narratives in individuals' broader and changing life circumstances. We extracted two conceptual categories related to SE from participants' narratives: 1) bodily symptoms attributed to modern contraception; and 2) social meanings of SE in everyday life. We then situate these narratives in context – sources of knowledge on SE, barriers to addressing SE, and individuals/couples' life circumstances – to understand their embodied realities. Using Krieger's ecosocial theory, our findings suggest that in rural contexts of poverty, uncertainty and power inequities the empirical realities of SE are legitimate concerns stemming from actual or anticipated bodily symptoms located in the embodied life circumstances of individuals and couples.

Hopefulness and the Mothers' Wellbeing: Children with SpLD

Mothers who are having children with SpLD may have changes in their hopes since they may experience many dramatic changes in life circumstances. A semi-structured interview was conducted to explore mother's hopes in providing care children with SpLD. The data was analysed using six stages of the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The finding revealed that two superordinate themes emerged: "I have faith…" and "I'm expecting…" relating to different perspectives of hopes. A positive hope facilitates positive influence among mothers in providing care children with SpLD. Later, it postulated a better quality of life amongst mother in having children with SpLD.

Construction of immigrant mothers’ language experiences in Taiwan: Mothering in one’s second language is a ‘choice’?

This study dissects a cross-border linguistic dilemma and critiques the missed opportunities for linguistic diversity in Taiwan. Past studies have shown that immigrant mothers from Southeast Asia are discouraged from transmitting the cultures and languages of their home countries to their children, yet few voices have been heard from the mothers themselves. Taking a poststructuralist approach on identity and employing life story interviews, the study examines the mothers’ language experiences and explores how their language choices as mothers are constructed by and reconstructing the changing family, social, and national contexts. The mothers’ narratives reveal that whether to pass down their first language to their children is an on-going, complex decision-making process shaped by one’s immigration status, dynamic family relationships and roles, and changing life circumstances. The study contributes to the field by highlighting these mothers’ native tongues in such immigrant families as sites of oppression and liberation as we envision equitable, multicultural societies in Taiwan.

Climate change and psychological adaptation: A behavioral environmental economics approach

Economic models of climate policy (or policies to combat other environmental problems) typically neglect psychological adaptation to changing life circumstances. People may adapt, to different degrees, to a deteriorated environment. The present paper addresses these issues in a model of optimal tax policy to combat climate change and discusses the consequences for optimal climate policies. Furthermore, from a normative-methodological point of view, we argue that psychological adaptation needs to be taken into account even by a pure welfarist policy maker, who aims at internalizing an intertemporal externality.

The Associations between Self-Reported Exposure to the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Zone and Mental Health Disorders in Ukraine.

In 1986, Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Pripyat, Ukraine exploded, releasing highly-radioactive materials into the surrounding environment. Although the physical effects of the disaster have been well-documented, a limited amount of research has been conducted on association of the disaster with long-term, clinically-diagnosable mental health disorders. According to the diathesis-stress model, the stress of potential and unknown exposure to radioactive materials and the ensuing changes to ones life or environment due to the disaster might lead those with previous vulnerabilities to fall into a poor state of mental health. Previous studies of this disaster have found elevated symptoms of stress, substance abuse, anxiety, and depression in exposed populations, though often at a subclinical level. With data from The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a cross-sectional large mental health survey conducted in Ukraine by the World Health Organization, the mental health of Ukrainians was modeled with multivariable logistic regression techniques to determine if any long-term mental health disorders were association with reporting having lived in the zone affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Common classes of psychiatric disorders were examined as well as self-report ratings of physical and mental health. Reporting that one lived in the Chernobyl-affected disaster zone was associated with a higher rate of alcohol disorders among men and higher rates of intermittent explosive disorders among women in a prevalence model. Subjects who lived in the disaster zone also had lower ratings of personal physical and mental health when compared to controls. Stress resulting from disaster exposure, whether or not such exposure actually occurred or was merely feared, and ensuing changes in life circumstances is associated with increased rates of mental health disorders. Professionals assisting populations that are coping with the consequences of disaster should be aware of possible increases in psychiatric disorders as well as poorer perceptions regarding personal physical and mental health.

Beyond the Jobs versus Amenities Debate: Understanding the Migration of Educated Workers and Implications for Planning

A skilled workforce is essential to regional growth and competitiveness, yet what is needed to attract and retain a talent base is a matter of long-standing debate. Through a qualitative longitudinal study of educated professionals who moved or returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, we identify the particular aspects of “jobs” and “amenities” respondents valued, highlight the complex and relational nature of the migration process, and examine how locational priorities shift as life circumstances change. Understanding the place-specific and institutional qualities that affect mobility and how individuals negotiate the migration process are essential to attract and retain skilled workers.

The Hero’s Journey: A Creative Act

This paper proposes the hero’s journey as a pathway to psychological creativity. The hero’s journey reveals, in story form, the efforts of a hero to resolve a significant problem following a change in life circumstances. This problem lies beyond the scope of the hero’s current understanding, skill set and experience. In order to address the problem, the hero therefore begins what Campbell refers to as ‘the creative act’ of ‘sticking one’s neck out’, undergoing a hero’s journey. Invariably the journey involves foreign trials, requiring the hero to tap into unknown inner potentials. Invariably trials become more complex, pushing the hero to move beyond their perceived limits. Eventually all heroes will experience at least two trials which either subjectively or literally, will seem like life and death challenges, signalling the death of no longer useful aspects of the self and the integration of their newfound potential. Transformed heroes are able to innovate and create in their everyday lives, providing an elixir for those around them.

“I have faith…”: An exploration of hopefulness in providing care for children with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

Mothers who are having children with SpLD may have changes in their hopes since they may experience many dramatic changes in life circumstances. A semi-structured interview was conducted to explore mother's hopes in providing care children with SpLD. The data was analysed using six stages of the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The finding revealed that two superordinate themes emerged: "I have faith…" and "I'm expecting…" relating to different perspectives of hopes. A positive hope facilitates positive influence among mothers in providing care children with SpLD. Later, it postulated a better quality of life amongst mother in having children with SpLD.